The January 12th earthquake in Haiti left that country devastated. The capitol city of Port Au Prince was demolished and the residents who survived were left without food, water or medical supplies. Thousands were buried under collapsed buildings for days before rescue workers could dig them out. However, one thing made the situation in Haiti different from other widespread disaster situations: mobile giving. Just two hours after the quake hit, Wyclef Jean, a singer from Haiti, sent a tweet to more than a million people telling them how to give money to his charity using their cell phones. An hour later, the Red Cross had their cell-phone donation system up and running, and several more charities followed suit a few hours after that. Within three days, people donated almost 20 million dollars, all in small 5 and 10 dollar increments. Charities were stunned at the outpouring of support for the people of Haiti, but some people wondered, is it OK to donate on a text message? Or is your money safer if you give online? According to MSNBC, donating via text is totally secure.

What’s happening is that you’re authorizing your phone carrier to charge you an extra few dollars on your next bill, and they’re sending the money to the charity. They’re not taking a cut; 100% of your donation is going to the charity of your choice. Also, in the case of Haiti, cell phone companies say they’ll send the money right away instead of waiting for you to pay your bill. Whether you’re giving online or on the phone you have to be aware of who you’re sending money to. There are lots of unscrupulous people out there, pretending to take donations when they’re really pocketing the cash. So always check out a charity before you donate. You can go to the Better Business Bureau’s Wise Giving Alliance at BBB.org/US/Charity to make sure you’re not getting scammed.